WATCH: Hebburn lad Andy Gray on BBC Two contest Phone Shop Idol

Vicki Newman

Mobile phone salesman Andy Gray was given a ringing endorsement when he appeared on a TV competition.

The 30-year-old from Hebburn made his TV debut on BBC Two’s new six-part series Phone Shop Idol on Tuesday.

At the time of filming, Andy, who is marrying his fiancee Hayley Miller in October, worked at Fonehouse in The Bridges, Sunderland, and was named a ‘Chosen One’ by bosses and put forward to take part in the show, which aims to find the best mobile phone salesman in the country.

He said: “The shop has the top sales in the country and I had the best sales in the shop, so by proxy I was the best in the company.

“A guy from head office came down to the shop and said he wanted to put me forward for the show and I thought why not.

“If you’re in the industry it’s a good thing and I thought I could win it.”

Andy Gray on Phone Shop Idol.

Andy, who now works as a business development manager at the Energy Checking Company Ltd in South Shields, was told he’d be visited by a mystery shopper over the course of three months.

The shopper secretly recorded being served by Andy, and a panel of judges watched the clip before giving him a score of 96% and sending him through to the next round.

The overall winner will be given the title of Phone Shop Idol and win thousands of pounds worth of Samsung gadgets.

Andy said: “I knew that a mystery shopper was going to be coming in at some point so I was always on high alert, but to be honest, I was always like that anyway.

Before the show came on I was just sitting there ready to cringe about it. I’m just daft as a brush and try to get that across when I’m working on a sale and the camera never phased me.

Andy Gray

“I deal with every customer the way I dealt with the mystery shopper and just always try to be helpful and have a good laugh with them.

“Before the show came on I was just sitting there ready to cringe about it. I’m just daft as a brush and try to get that across when I’m working on a sale and the camera never fazed me.

“I was really embarrassed before it started and I posted something on Facebook to say I was going to be on and I was getting a good response.